The present invention relates to devices for use in open reduction of bone fractures, and more particularly, to such a novel device which is readily adapted for miniaturization and which minimizes the potential for injury to articular cartilage and the like.
Open reduction is a surgical procedure for repositioning the separated portions of a fractured bone to permit them to heal in normal anatomical position. In this procedure, a device frequently is used for temporarily maintaining the separated portions of the bone in normal position while a permanent affixing device, such as a pin or a wire, is positioned in an aperture which the surgeon has formed through the broken portions of the bone with the use of a drill. Thereafter the temporary device is removed.
Conventional devices used in such surgical procedures for temporarily reducing bone fractures typically employ an affixing device having a pointed end for penetrating one of the broken portions of the bone in order to force it into proper position with the remaining portions thereof. The use of such devices for reducing a fracture of the articulated end of a bone causes injury to tissues such as articular cartilage, which in the future can result in an arthritic condition in the joint.
Such conventional devices also employ ratchets or screw-type devices to hold opposing ends of the device affixed to the bone fragments during the surgical procedure. Where it is necessary to reduce a fracture involving a small bone or a small portion of a bone, for example, in reducing the fracture of an articulated end of a bone in the hand or the foot, it is necessary that the devices employed in the procedure be miniaturized. However, devices which employ ratchets or screw-type mechanisms are poorly adapted for miniaturization.